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Celebrating Ingrid Sealey: Empowering Education

We proudly celebrate the outstanding achievements of Ingrid Sealey, the former Director of the Fogarty Foundation’s EDvance program, whose remarkable work in the field of education has been widely recognized. With an unwavering commitment to improving educational outcomes for children in challenging communities in Western Australia, Ingrid’s dedication and expertise have made a significant and positive impact in the region.

Following her tenure at EDvance, Ingrid’s passion for transforming education led her to establish Teach Well. This remarkable platform is dedicated to providing high-impact teaching training to schools across Australia, with a focus on bridging the educational gap faced by students in low socio-economic communities. Sealey’s experience gained from her time at EDvance have played an important role in the development and success of Teach Well.

Ingrid’s commitment to education have already yielded remarkable results. Through Teach Well, she has provided training to thousands of teachers and leaders, positively impacting the lives of over 80,000 students. Notably, Teach Well has extended its reach to serve regional and remote areas, where it has achieved a threefold representation of indigenous students compared to the national average. Sealey’s expertise and dedication have enabled Teach Well to deliver substantial improvements in student engagement, participation, and overall learning outcomes.

As director and founder of Teach Well, Ingrid and her team were recently recognised with the first-place award for the Oceania region in the prestigious Cartier Women’s Initiative, which is a testament to the importance and effectiveness of her work. This remarkable accolade not only highlights Sealey’s passion and dedication but also provides invaluable support and resources to further develop and expand Teach Well’s mission. The grant funding of USD $100,000 will undoubtedly contribute to the continued growth and impact of Teach Well, ensuring that more teachers and schools across Australia can benefit from their evidence-based practices.

Through Ingrid’s work, she has empowered teachers, enhanced classroom practices, and positively impacted the lives of thousands of students across Australia. The recognition and support garnered through the Cartier Women’s Initiative award stand as a testament to Sealey’s excellent contributions to the field of education. With Ingrid Sealey at the helm, Teach Well continues to drive positive change and transform educational outcomes, promising a brighter and more inclusive future for students in challenging communities.

In a high anticipated awards ceremony held last night at the Edith Spiegeltent at ECU, Katherine Allum emerged as the winner of the highly esteemed 2023 Fogarty Literary Award. Allum’s exceptional manuscript, “The Skeleton House,” received widespread acclaim and earned her a $20,000 cash prize, as well as a coveted publishing contract with Fremantle Press.

American-born, West Australian based Allum poured her heart and soul into crafting “The Skeleton House” amidst the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overcoming the challenges of limited space and remote work, she penned her novel at a small table in her one-bedroom flat. Her evocative storytelling and deep introspection led to the creation of a remarkable narrative, following the journey of Meg, a mother grappling with the tension between her yearning for independence and the image of her seemingly flawless marriage.

The Fogarty Foundation, in collaboration with Fremantle Press, proudly supports emerging Western Australian writers through the Fogarty Literary Award. The recognition and celebration of Katherine Allum’s achievement serves as a testament to the Foundation’s commitment to fostering local literary talent.  In announcing the winner, Fremantle Press CEO (Ms) Alex Allan expressed excitement over the upcoming publication of “The Skeleton House” in 2024, underscoring Allum’s extraordinary writing prowess and her dedication to supporting fellow writers. The Award’s shortlisted candidates, Prema Arasu, Josh Kemp, Patrick Marlborough, Karleah Olson and Emily Paull will also receive invaluable guidance from Fremantle Press to further refine their manuscripts.

The bi-ennial Fogarty Literary Award, designed for Western Australian writers aged 18 to 35, has consistently championed young literary voices since its inception in 2019. Through the generous support of the Fogarty Foundation, the Award has enabled numerous previously unpublished authors to release their books, with some even receiving major national literary accolades as a result.  

To purchase past Award-winners’ books (and Katherine’s when it is published in 2024), please visit the Fremantle Press website

As Major supporters of Arts Impact WA, Fogarty Foundation was excited to be in the room last week when the 2023 grant winners were announced. The Arts Impact WA grants event was hosted at The Rechabite Hall, where six short-listed art projects were revealed, and the winners were announced.

The two winning projects each went home with a grant of $100,000 towards the creation of their artwork. One major grant was presented to The Freeze Frame Opera and WA Young Voices who will collaborate on The Little Prince opera production in November, while the second went to Guy Ben-Ary and Nathan Thompson’s Revivification project, which will construct a ‘living’ sculpture of late American composer Alvin Lucier. Fogarty Foundation Chairperson Annie Fogarty says “We are really pleased to be supporting emerging and small arts organisations in WA, building talent and telling great stories”. Four other short-listed projects each received a $10,000 grant.

Arts Impact WA is supported by 25 Founding Champions, who contribute up to $10,000 a year for three years, and other donors who contribute a minimum of $1,000 annually. Donors came together to vote for their preferred project with the winner reflecting the community’s preference. The initiative is the first of its kind in Australia focused solely on the arts, underlining the community’s passion for the arts and culture sector in Western Australia. The organisation aims to support unique and ambitious arts projects, promoting new talent and pathways for the WA arts giving sector to flourish.

In 2022, Vivienne Robertson won a $100,000 grant for her Reclaim the Void project, while the CinefestOZ Film Festival received the second grant to extend its film festival to Broome. Paul Chamberlain, co-founder and Chair of Arts Impact WA, said, “What we have already achieved is phenomenal, not only reflecting the generosity of Western Australians but our collective passion for the arts. The establishment of Arts Impact WA provides an opportunity for everyone to come together, ignite new talent and enable new pathways to grow the WA arts giving sector.”

Fortescue Futures Industries (FFI) CEO Dr Mark Hutchinson shared his insights and experiences at a special In Conversation event with Scholars this week.

Dr Hutchinson discussed his global business and leadership experience whilst also digging into the complexities of FFI’s historic mission to become a global leader in green energy. “We are trying to show the world we can replace and eliminate fossil fuels,” he said. “FFI is historic in this manner as no one else is trying this.” And doing this from Perth was unexpected but exciting, he added.

Mark spoke in depth about his early career and how his global experience, from Hong Kong to the USA, helped him develop as a leader. He talked particularly about the importance of persistence and sticking with challenging jobs or opportunities, even if they are not playing to your natural strengths.  When leaving attendees with a final piece of advice, he encouraged them to think about how they can use their gifts to make a positive difference in the world and a key way to do this is to go abroad to learn what they can, bringing this valuable knowledge and experience back to WA.

This was an exclusive opportunity to hear from a global leader in the green energy transition, and Dr Hutchinson’s leadership experiences were inspirational to Scholars from all study pathways. One attendee expressed their appreciation by stating, “it was incredible to hear such insightful and genuine comments from such an experienced and accomplished business person. “

The Foundation is delighted to announce that, after establishing the Fogarty EDvance program in 2012 and a successful decade of program delivery, it is partnering with Knowledge Society for the delivery of the program going forward.  This includes the commencement of a 10th cohort of schools in 2023, bringing the total number of schools working with Fogarty EDvance to 138. 

As part of this arrangement, the Fogarty EDvance team is now based at Knowledge Society and working with the larger Knowledge Society team.

The Foundation remains the Founding Partner of Fogarty EDvance, continues to fund the program and is on the Advisory Board for governance and strategy.  It will also continue to work with alumni schools to support them to improve student outcomes.  The Program also continues to be supported by the Department of Education and Catholic Education WA.   

Foundation Chairperson, Annie Fogarty AM said: “we chose Knowledge Society as our partner because of the excellent work it is doing to enable school improvement in other jurisdictions.  Its Catalyst program, in particular, is highly regarded and Knowledge Society’s work nationally provides the potential for schools in low socioeconomic communities across Australia, not just WA, to benefit from the EDvance program”. 

Click here to learn more about transition or the new home of Fogarty EDvance, and Knowledge Society 

The Foundation welcomes the release by the Grattan Institute of a helpful ‘how to’ guide for Principals and school leaders who would like to implement a whole school curriculum approach in their schools. 

This work has been developed in direct response to the need to lift educational outcomes for all Australian students (and ensure equity of access to a quality education for all children, no matter where they live), but also as a means to return the role of teaching to the essentials.  How might it do this? By enabling excellent delivery of content that allows teachers to differentiate across the varying capabilities of their students, ensuring everyone learns and that current knowledge can be built upon as effectively as possible. 

The guide was developed after surveys conducted of teachers about their workload and what stands in the way of delivering a great education, as well as Grattan taking a deeper dive into five case study schools who are focusing on whole school curriculum (two of which are Fogarty EDvance schools – Serpentine Primary School and Aveley Secondary College).  

The paper also responds to the myths about this approach which include potentially ‘dumbing down’ the profession of teaching.  To the contrary, it shows that implementing a whole school curriculum does the opposite.  In other words, when implemented well, it frees teachers to focus on – and refine – the HOW they teach, rather than spend an inordinate amount of time trying to work out the WHAT to teach. 

You can find out more by visiting Grattan here

It was wonderful to see the third Science of Learning Leadership Accelerator held in Perth in on 9 and 10 March 2023.  This follows successful SOLLA events being held in Melbourne and Sydney in recent years.  Fogarty Foundation was the major partner for the Perth event, given one of its strategic pillars is to enable Excellence in Teaching in WA. 

SOLLA brought together leaders who are changing practice in classrooms and schools, consistent with the Science of Learning , Science of Reading and knowledge rich curriculum.  As such, it is a high calibre, expert-led professional learning and social movement advocating equity and excellence through Science of Learning informed education across Australia.   

Providing the opportunity to build attendees’ understanding of the Science of Learning, the event also fostered networking with like-minded educators and the chance to hear from global and national experts such as Ben Jensen (Learning First) and Tom Rees (Ambition Institute, UK). 

Highlights of the two day event included a comprehensive overview of the Western Australia’s Quality Teaching Framework and the proposed rollout of this new strategic program of work, and a deep dive into the design and implementation of the Catalyst program, Knowledge Society’s whole system approach to teaching and learning improvement in the Catholic Education Archdiocese of Canberra-Goulburn.

As the sunset and the city lights began to shine in the distance, it was great to see so many of our Perth Alumni at this new event on the program.

The event was buzzing as alumni from various graduating classes came together for a night of networking and reminiscing. The event, held in the city, was a great opportunity for high achievers from various fields to reconnect with old friends and make new connections across the community.

The attendees were from a mix of years, but they all had one thing in common: a passion for success and a drive to make a difference in their respective fields. From business leaders to entrepreneurs, lawyers to doctors, and everything in between, the balcony saw scholars from diverse backgrounds who shared a common goal of making a positive impact on their communities.

The Standard provided the perfect setting for the event, with its modern decor and relaxed atmosphere. Guests mingled and caught up over drinks, swapping stories about their experiences since graduation and sharing advice on how to achieve success in their chosen fields.

The event was a great success, with attendees leaving feeling reconnected, energized, and inspired. Many exchanged contact details and made plans to meet up again in the future. The event demonstrated the power of community and the importance of staying connected with your peers, no matter how many years have passed since graduation.

We look forward to seeing more of the Alumni at the next event later this year.

UWA First Year Scholars Leadership Reception – 23 March 2023 

It was wonderful to have the opportunity to hear from so many inspiring UWA Fogarty Scholars and alumni at the annual Leadership Reception hosted for the first year UWA Fogarty and Winthrop Scholars and their families.  After Professor David Sadler’s opening address and remarks from Foundation Chairperson Annie Fogarty AM, the audience was treated to a stimulating panel discussion from five outstanding young people.   

The panel comprised alumni: 

and current Scholars: 

Panellists discussed what ‘leadership’ means to them and the ways in which the Scholarship program supported them in becoming a leader.   The differences between university and high school, and what panellists wished they knew in their first year was also a fascinating conversation.  They spoke about the freedom and opportunities that University life offers and the challenge of balancing trying out lots of new things, with also keeping from becoming overloaded and stressed as a result. 

Advice for first years on setting priorities, supporting their self care and managing study were shared, as well as the opportunities that panel members took during their time.  Tips or messages for the first years included: 

Thank you so much to our UWA Fogarty Scholars and Alumni for giving their time for an event that was very well received by the first years, with thanks also to UWA for hosting this great event. 

Improving curriculum planning should be a national priority given the urgent challenges in Australian school education.  This approach takes the lottery out of learning, because it guarantees that all students receive common, high- quality teaching that supports them to build knowledge and skills through their school years.   The benefits of adopting a whole school curriculum can be significant.  As one Serpentine Primary School literacy leader said “We don’t miss students. You know you’re not going to get students in Year 3 that can’t read. We have high expectations, we want all kids to be at grade level.” (page 25).

Tackling this problem will require action from school leaders and teachers, as well as governments, and Catholic and independent school sector leaders.  Grattan’s 2022 report, Ending the lesson lottery: How to improve curriculum planning in schools, sets out what governments and sector leaders should do to help tackle this problem.

School leaders should not wait, however, for government action.  The new Grattan Guide (insert link to PDF) sets out practical steps they can take now to establish an effective whole-school approach to curriculum planning.  

The Guide draws on lessons Grattan learnt studying five schools across Australia that have embraced a whole-school approach to curriculum, the two of which from WA are both Fogarty EDvance schools – Serpentine Primary School and Aveley Secondary College.

The paper presents the six key features of a whole-school curriculum approach:

This helpful report also provides links to materials prepared by other schools to help exemplify what this looks like in practice – and can provide a fast-track way to get started. 

Grattan is also hosting an online event series with school leaders from two of the case study schools in our Guide. You can register for these events here: